Re Israeli election: far too many people—including many who should know better, like Jews and supporters of Israel—still wrongly believe soft power (ie, public sentiment/approval) is more important than hard power (deterrence). It’s not, and it’s living in that fantasy world that will get Jews killed. Hard to imagine someone believing the world will suddenly love Jews—or that you no longer get uncomfortable looks when you go to Zabar’s—if Netanyahu is gone, but there’s plenty of ridiculousness around. But let’s say, for a moment, that it’s true. Nobody but Netanyahu would’ve been able to navigate the post-Oct 7 Middle East and restore the deterrence that it had lost that day. I know that Israelis vote for all kinds of reasons, from Haredi draft to the economy, etc. And voting for restored deterrence is a comparative abstraction—so I’m not sure how it’s going to go. But imo that’s the most important issue, and the guy to vote for is obviously Bibi. I know people’s mileage may vary, but forgetting about the strategic genius of Netanyahu would be a massive mistake. That’s my 2 cents.